Clarkson riled by officials reversal

ITHACA  Friday nights ECAC Hockey game at Cornells Lynah Rink was one of the strangest in the history of the Clarkson University mens hockey program.

The Big Red came away with a 3-1 victory before 4,267 fans, but the second period left everyone in the building perplexed.

Clarkson (2-6-5 overall, 2-2-1 ECAC Hockey) was trailing 1-0 with 8 minutes, 47 seconds left in the second period when Cornells Kirill Gotovets was injured on a hit that did not result in any penalties for Clarkson.

Some Big Red players took exception to the play and a fight ensued. Clarksons Allan McPherson was knocked to the ice by Cornells John McCarron, and after the initial scrum was over, the officials gave McPherson, McCarron and Cornells Joakim Ryan major penalties and game disqualifications, meaning they would not have been eligible for todays games.

Clarkson started its major penalty and then noticed that Cornells Ryan was still on the ice, even though it had been announced he was ejected. After 52 seconds, which included a shorthanded shot by Ryan, Clarksons bench called the officials over to ask why Ryan was playing and thats when things grew strange.

After a talk that lasted almost 15 minutes the officials took Ryans penalty away, changed McPhersons penalty to a game misconduct, which means he can play in todays 4 p.m. game at Colgate, but also wiped away Clarksons major power play.

It was a huge swing, a big impact, and never an explanation for it, Clarkson coach Casey Jones said. It affected us. They initiated all the contact and we end up with three guys in the penalty box, one guy gone and two guys with (10-minute penalties). It was unbelievable.

To make matters worse for the Golden Knights, Clarksons Jeff DiNallo was called for slashing a little more than two minutes later and Cornell (5-3-1, 2-3-2) scored a power-play goal on a shot by John Esposito to take a 2-0 lead.

Clarkson got back in the game when Joe Zarbo scored a power-play goal at 3:28 of the third period, but Cornell clinched the win with an empty-net goal from John Esposito at 19:18.

We showed up ready to play from the get-go, Jones said. In terms of a young team in that environment, I thought we handled it well.

Clarkson outshot Cornell 9-5 in the first period and had two power plays, but couldnt get anything past Cornell goalie Andy Iles, who finished with 22 saves.

Commenting rules:

Stick to the topic of the article/letter/editorial.

When responding to issues raised by other commenters, do not engage in personal attacks or name-calling.

Comments that include profanity/obscenities or are libelous in nature will be removed without warning.

Violators' commenting privileges may be revoked indefinitely. By commenting you agree to our full Terms of Use.